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A brief overview of the recent developments in Syria:
- On December 19, Turkish-backed forces were amassing their forces north of Ain Issa to launch a major attack on the town;
- On December 20, the Turkish-backed 1st Corps announced the beginning of the operation to capture Ayn Issa;
- On December 19, the US-led coalition sent a convoy of 25 trucks, loaded with weapons and logistical equipment, to Hasakah province;
- On December 19, Kurdish internal security forces launched an operation in the rural areas of Qamishli arresting 46 persons;
- On December 19, two members of the SDF were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the town of al-Shuhail.
Work on Sarmat ballistic missile nears completion — Putin
“Work on the Sarmat proceeds actively, and is now at the final stage. As for Poseidon [an unmanned underwater vehicle – TASS], work goes on well. Work on a missile with a nuclear global-distance system also proceeds as scheduled,” he said at his annual news conference.
According to the president, work on other weapon systems that was announced in his state-of-the-nation address also proceeds as scheduled. “Some of them – the Kinzhal and the Peresvet laser weapon – have been put into service,” he said.
The RS-28 Sarmat is a Russian advanced silo-based system with a heavy liquid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile. It has been in the process of development since the 2000s to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM. It weighs about 200 tonnes and has a throw weight of around 10 tonnes. The Sarmat is capable of breaching any existing and future missile defenses. https://tass.com/defense/1236575
Experts name S-500 air defense system as possible ‘antidote’ to hypersonic weapons Russia is currently working on systems of countering hypersonic weapons, which other countries still do not have, Putin told reporters on Thursday. “We are working, among other things, on the ‘antidote’ against future hypersonic weapons in other countries, in the world’s other leading armies. I am confident that we will do that and we are on the right way,” he said. According to Victor Murakhovsky, the editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, “the S-500 system can become that ‘antidote.’” “Possibly, the modernization of Moscow’s missile shield was also meant. It has been made known that its interceptor missiles have been seriously modernized,” the expert added. In turn, the director for the development of the Foundation for Assistance to 21st Century Technologies, Ivan Konovalov, said Russia was way ahead of the United States in hypersonic technologies. However, the US will do its best to catch up with Russia as soon as possible, so a proper defense against hypersonic weapons would be necessary for maintaining balance.
“The classical military way of thinking is that an attack weapon should always be supported by a defensive weapon, because the potential adversary will also develop this sphere. Therefore, in the classical paradigm, an attack technology must always be complemented with a defensive technology, and vice versa,” he told TASS.
Beginning of the operation to capture Ain Issa.
I wonder what will happen: Turkey didn’t say anything, which is likely that they weren’t fully backing the attack of a few days ago (Turkey didn’t send any drone). Not sure if the SDF can stop the SNA operation on their own.
Their armed forces are almost all light infantry.
They do not have any artillery beside a few mortars They do not have any aircraft beside a few man portable drones They do not have any AA system, beside technicals armed with machine guns They do not have tanks They have ATGMs which are extremely useful in a flat environment, but it’s still a light infantry weapon.
So it’s hard to tell what will happen. If they will not manage to stop the advance on their own, they will lose the city, unless the SAA (and the Russian) will step in, but they will never do that if they will not give them big concessions:
Probably way bigger than the ones they gave them a year and a half ago.